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I've been asked this question several times in my short period as a writer. "Inquiring minds want to know, which comes first the characters or the plot?"  This question is kinda like asking...what comes first the egg or the chicken. There is no right answer. Some authors swear it's the characters and others swear it's the plot.  Neither are right or wrong. It just all depends on how your brain creates. For me, I'm the big picture type of person and I think of the plot first and then write the characters to fit. But I've spoken with several authors who've told me that they do it opposite, create the characters first and then place them in a situation. I wish I could do that but my brain just doesn't work that way.

Instead give me a general idea and I'll take it from there. For example, Millie, our illustrious leader ask me to write a story for our "Dwellers of the Night" Series - the only catch was it had to have vampires in it.  Okay awesome!  What's the first thing I did? Created a sexy cover for it.  I know - I know...isn't that going backwards? Yep it is and it's how my brain works. I do everything backwards it seems but that's for another blog. But there is a method to my madness - I swear. 

I had run across a really cool picture of a Russian mosque. It was faded and reminded me of one of those old time pictures and I knew I had the perfect location for my story and the perfect place to start it. (After all vampires are supposed to be eternal.)  Besides who would want to read a story about a vampire that was born in 1988 when they could have one that was turned 1788?  So after viewing the picture of the mosque, I decided right then and there my vampire would be a Russian noble who happened to be turned by a roaming gypsy.  Since Romania is the birthplace of the vampire stories tailored after Vlad the Impaler, it made sense to me. (Did I mention my family  especially Mr. Trace is a huge history buff?)

After letting my fingers do the walking, I found a fountain of information I knew I'd need online to make my story come to life.  I knew I wanted my vampire to have been at war which would've made him vulnerable to succumbing to a willingly gypsy woman. While I won't bore you will all the details, Russia was dragged into the Patriotic War of 1812 (not to be confused with the War of 1812 which happened here in the good old U.S of A.) before it ended in 1816. It was perfect!  it would make my vampire at almost two hundred years old when I wrote the main part of my story set in current  times. While I love historicals as much as the next avid reader, I have found that I lack the serious drive needed to do hours upon hours of research that is required to make a book at least historically correct. Two hours max is my limit when it comes to research for most books,

So now I've got a Russian noble who fought during the war who's been cursed by a gypsy to live forever always hungering for blood and sex.  So what do I do? I find a spunky heroine who will be his salvation!  But what would she be doing in Russia during 2010?  That's when my mind was drawn back to the picture of the mosque I'd seen.  Why she's an artist! (Here's where the characters actually come in. I've got the plot in firmly in my head, now it's time to assign the cast!)

I spent some more time online to find some authentic names that would suit my characters at least the three major players of the game.  The hero- Grigori, the villainess - Brigita and the heroine - Peony.  Thank God for online baby name books!  

So there you have it, my rather convoluted way of creating a story. The plot definitely has to come first (after the cover of course.)  Below is the cover that inspired my creation and the blurb I wrote based on the cover.

Cursed (Dwellers of the Night #5)  By Dakota Trace

Fresh from fighting in the Patriotic War of 1812, Grigori Chernikova - the younger half brother of Baron Pahlen, wants nothing more than to spend several nights in the arms of willing woman to forget it all. On his way to St. Petersburg he crosses paths with the sultry gypsy Brigita. After a night of unbelievable sex, he awakes to find himself bound to her bed as her slave.  When he refuses , she grows angry and curses him after bleeding him until he's on the verge of death.

When he finally recovers weeks later, he realizes he's not the same man he once was. He now has an aversion to light, likes his steaks bloody rare, has an insatiable sex drive and he's ceased to age. As the years passed he's become a recluse who only leaves his manor when his needs finally drive him to  take yet another mistress who usually runs as soon as she realizes what he is. It's on one of these infrequent trips that he runs across a young English artist, Peony. Even as he clamors for both her blood and her body, can she be the one to break the curse on him or will she flee like all the others?

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Hello, everyone! I hope everyone is having a wonderful day. Once again, Milena has been nice enough to open up the floor here at Written Expressions and let me blog for the readers.

Today instead of talking about lusty heroes and feisty heroines, I'm going to blog about a much more serious matter.  E-book Piracy: that's right the illegal downloading of copyrighted e-books.  Unless your publisher has a secure adobe or mobipocket versions of your work, then there is very real chance of this happening. While the publishers all include a disclosure of the piracy law in the beginning of any e-book you buy and have all the required copyright information listed, less than honest people still are doing this.  The New York Times reported in March of 2009, that there were over 9 million illegal downloads of ebooks.* That's just mind boggling.

Some may ask why the authors get so bent out of shape about this since the files sharing sites such as Demoniod or Astatalk are basically giving the author free publicity. They're not.  It's no different than working a regular job for 40 hours a week and expecting to get paid for those 40 hours.  Imagine if you opened your paycheck and found out they only paid you for 30 of those hours.  I know someone who would be screaming bloody murder at the office.  It is the same thing for an author who has spent months writing a story, doing numerous edits and revisions and then waiting several more months to see their book come out for publication.  Now, it's out and your book ends up pirated within the first week of it's release.  I'd say that would be enough to piss of even the calmest of authors.

This is one of the reasons why the government passed a law to stop this from happening and have attached $250,000 fine if you get caught.  The only problem is that unless the person is a habitual offender it's hard to enforce this law. Even when an author finds their work pirated, it's nearly impossible to get it removed from the share sites.  Sites like Demoniod and Astatalk hide behind the fact they are a hosting site only and aren't responsible for any infringement of copyright laws that a member might break when posting an e-book. In fact to get it taken down most of the time you have to contact the member personally to remove it and the two sites I've mentioned above you have to have an actual membership with them to even speak to other members of the site.  I've been told by other authors that there are times when they do it ahold of a member, they claim they didn't realize it was a nontransferable file. Evidently they don't read the notice in the front of all ebooks about it being illegal.

So next time you buy an ebook take the time to stop and read the disclaimer at the front of the book.  E-books do not have the same  rights as regular books.  They are nontransferable and are the property of the author  and/or publisher.  You wouldn't steal a purse or rob a bank, so don't steal an author's hard work.  They definitely won't thank you for it. 

So if you find an ebook you absolutely love and want to share with a friend, buy another copy. Even when you buy more than one copy of an e-book it still usually ends up being cheaper in the long run because ebooks are usually a fraction of the cost of a print book. My most recent release, Nisey's Awakening, runs around $7 for the ebook but is close to $18 for the print version.  So a reader can easily buy 2 copies for less than the price of one print book.

Any way, I'll get off my soapbox now. :)

Happy Reading to all,

*Reports Finds 9 Million Illegall Downloads of E-books by Motoko Rich, New York Times, January 19, 2010. http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/report-finds-9-million-illegal-downloads-of-e-books/

Today I wanted to talk about what trips your trigger erotically speaking of course.  When you pick up a good erotic book what kind do you reach for?  We all have our favorites and I'm ashamed to say I have mine too, although I read almost anything that has erotic content listed on the cover. I've found some rather good books by just picking up something different and new.

Eternity By Dakota Trace

That's right for the month of never-ending love, I'm pleased to be able to give away two free copies of my latest Written Expressions release, Eternity.

Yep, it’s just me, Dakota, with news update for Written Expressions, one of my much loved publishing companies.  After a small leave of absence by our faithful leader, Milena (who’s expecting in the spring), we’re back on track and let me tell you the changes coming along are so exciting.  With the help of several people including Milena’s wonderful husband, Ben, during the downtime, we got an updated and brand-new looking site!  You should check this thing out! It’s just simply wonderful and is one of the many changes in store for Written Expressions for 2010!